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Mac 101: ZIP files for easy e-mail


We're all faced with the problem of e-mailing large files. This task can be made simple by using Mac OS X's built-in "Compress" tool. This feature makes it easy to not only compress one file into a ZIP archive, but also multiple files or entire folders. Just select the files you need to ZIP and right-click on one of them. When you select Compress, then in a couple seconds (this will take longer depending on the file size) you will be presented with a nice ZIP archive containing all of your files in it. Just drag the ZIP file into your e-mail and send!

There are alternatives, such as StuffIt Expander Deluxe, but if all you are doing is compressing files, there really is no need to spend money since Mac OS X will zip and un-zip the archive handily.



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OS Mac 101

We're all faced with the problem of e-mailing large files. This task can be made simple by using Mac OS X's built-in "Compress" tool. This...
 

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driftwood

Hm, I've had trouble with this lately. Been trying to compress a large amount of photos, and I get an error on every try.

I may try it through quicksilver, unless it's just the same process.

December 18 2007 at 11:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kevin Vahlbusch

I knew about this in Tiger and also the change to "compress" in Leopard, but it does not seem useful. I cant send a 20 MB file via email, nor can I send the 19.5 MB "compressed" Zip file.... Am I missing a step here ?

December 18 2007 at 11:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kevin Vahlbusch's comment
Michael Rose

kb -- what kind of file is the original? If it's a photo (or a presentation containing photos) that are already in JPEG format, it's unlikely to compress any further.

If you can't email the file, senduit.com is a good alternative. Stuffit Deluxe also has the option to segment the file into multiple pieces, which Apple's built-in zip util cannot...

December 18 2007 at 1:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bassie

The best alternative I can think of has to be quicksilver.

Select your files (use , for multiple files).

Select the compress action.

Quicksilver now creates the archive and reopens with the zip-file selected.

Select the compose email action (or send directly).

Select the recipient (or again, use , for multiples).

A 10 second job!

December 18 2007 at 1:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rafe H.

hint:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071029071230867

December 17 2007 at 10:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Rafe H.'s comment
Simon Arch

Veeeeeeerrrrry interesting! Not exactly a 101-level tip, that might be a 102-level, but still quite interesting. Thanks!

December 18 2007 at 12:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rafe H.

This hint describes how to compress using formats other than ZIP, all within the Finder:



How's that for 101 for ya?

December 17 2007 at 10:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dmitry Chestnykh

You don't have to compress folders in order to send ZIP files through Mail – just drag-and-drop your folder to a message (or on Mail icon in Dock) and Mail will automatically compress it to foldername.zip when sending.

December 17 2007 at 10:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
derik

I've used the "create archive" feature a few times, but it never seems to make much of a dent in the file size. Is there a way to increase the compression?

December 17 2007 at 10:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ankur

Zip files are all well and good for sharing with Windows users, but generally tar/bzip2 and gzip are much better for UNIX (and therefore Mac) systems. I don't use Finder and much prefer drag and drop, anyway, so I wrote my own compression app. http://lipidity.com/software/zippit/

December 17 2007 at 9:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Ankur's comment
Pete

Actually, this is bad for sharing with Windows users because of the .DS_Store files and resource forks that they'll be exposed to.

I prefer to just use CleanArchiver, though there are a number of other alternatives (many free).

December 18 2007 at 2:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gary

How can this be done on a MacBook Pro - which has no right click mouse?

December 17 2007 at 9:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Gary's comment
Cory Bohon

To right-click on a Mac notebook, just hold down the control key and click like normal. If you are on a MacBook (or MacBook Pro), you can also place two fingers on the trackpad and click.

December 17 2007 at 9:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Rose

Seems that right-clicking may be worth a 101 of its own... :-)

December 18 2007 at 7:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

Congrats for becoming a TUAW blogger - but i'm not really sure that this item is blog-worthy? Its not a new feature - its been around for years. I'm sure its useful to someone ... but it seems a bit out of keeping with what TUAW normally posts.

December 17 2007 at 8:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Chris's comment
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